Character is destiny. Heraclitus, Greek philosopher*
In the world that revolves around Donald Trump, we find a Greek Tragedy, not dissimilar to that of Sophocles’ Antigone. In this modern tragedy, Trump plays King Creon who foretold the failure of the Greek political culture. In Antigone, Creon is the victor in a civil war that results in the death of Polynices. By decree, Creon orders that Polynices’ body lay unburied, in violation of Greek custom. Antigone is Polynices’ sister who challenges the decree and is imprisoned. The Chorus (public sentiment) rises up against Creon. As with all good Greek tragedies, many people die and Creon ends up alone due to his excessive pride. Antigone, Creon’s wife, and son, all commit suicide. The German philosopher Hegel summarized the play’s lesson as, “A state that finds itself in a position of internal contradiction cannot survive.”
 |
| King Trump Greek Tragedy |
While King Trump has ascended to the American throne 2,460 years after Creon, there are certain parallels here. President Trump’s clash with Comey, and now Mueller, represents a contradiction between the rule of law and the will of the elected president. The checks and balances built into our system of government provide conflict and stress between executive power and the laws and norms of American democracy.
In the national obsession that is Donald J. Trump, we have all learned things that we may have suspected were true but now know to be fact. Many wealthy individuals have a different rulebook, a different set of morals, and a different set of standards by which they live. I know that is a generalization and that there are certainly members of the “Community of One Percenters” that are decent human beings who respect the rule of law, common morality, and fair play. Donald Trump and others in his orbit all seem to march to the beat of a different drummer and take direction from a different moral compa$$.
 |
| Money Compass |
If ever you need to read about the special rules that seem to apply only to wealthy people, try this link to a recent Miami Herald investigation. The article outlines the case of Jeffrey Epstein who repeatedly engaged in sexual activity with underage girls (as many as 80 were identified) at his waterfront Palm Beach mansion. He got off with a comparative slap on the wrist.
 |
| Served 13 months instead of life. The 13 months was with work release, he only slept at the prison at night. |
 |
| Just a few of Epstein's victims |
The article also mentions Donald Trump who is accused of having sex with a thirteen-year-old girl at Epstein's mansion in Palm Beach. The cast of characters in Epstein's world included his friends former President Bill Clinton, former national security adviser Sandy Berger, former Colombian President Andrés Pastrana, Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, Kevin Spacey, and lawyer Alan Dershowitz. Just another example of the "finest people" and their little peccadillos.
 |
| Donald Trump and the Clintons were not always enemies. |
 |
| Politics makes strange bedfellows |
When it comes to Donald Trump, money is at the heart of all his decisions. He is not concerned with the U.S. economy except as it benefits him. The Trump Tower he has sought for almost 30 years in Russia is at the center of his soft and preferential treatment of Putin and all things Russian. When you delve into the backgrounds of Donald Trump, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, Roger Stone, etc., you find people who think lying, cheating, and deception are all just part of doing business and how the game is played in their rarefied world.
 |
| All 5 of the "Finest People" Guilty |
The almost daily attacks by President Trump on Mueller, his legitimate investigation, the FBI, the Department of Justice, and virtually anyone not seen as supportive of his executive-centric rule, certainly should set off alarms. His blatant obstruction of due process should result in universal outrage.
Cries of “Witch Hunt” are an attempt by a desperate man to delegitimize any eventual findings that wend their way into the public domain. Have we as a nation come to the point where we idolize a draft dodging self-absorbed billionaire and demonize a man who volunteered for the Marines and won a Bronze Star with “V” distinction for valor? Mueller's medal was earned rescuing a fellow fallen soldier during a firefight that saw half of his platoon become casualties.
Donald Trump has regularly stated that he surrounds himself with the finest people. As we now look at those “finest people”, we find that Michael Cohen, Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, and Samuel Patten, have all pleaded guilty to crimes. All of these indictments are products of the Mueller investigation into Trump's "finest people." The one key individual still standing without indictment is Roger Stone who pulls all of this presidential collusion speculation together and even provides links back to President Nixon's departure from office. The dominos are falling and Roger Stone could be the linchpin.
The Greek tragedy that is the Trump presidency, continues to be told. The circle is ever widening and perhaps only history will be able to pull all of this together in meaningful fashion. The fact that this story even has ties back to Watergate and includes a cast of international characters tells me, this tragic tale will be studied for years to come. The current witch-hunt has found its fair share of witches. I think Mueller’s broom closet will need to be enlarged.
 |
| Mueller Will Need A Bigger Broom Closet |
* “Character is destiny,” is a quote attributed to the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus. This quote implies that destiny, or fate, is not a predetermined outside force, but that one's future, or destiny, is determined by his own inner character.
=============================================
The majority of people have no understanding of the things with which they daily meet, nor, when instructed, do they have any right knowledge of them, although to themselves they seem to have. Heraclitus
No comments:
Post a Comment